Clothes cleaning device



I CLOTHES CLEANING DEVICE Filed March 14, 1945 INVENTOR ffallzdnm Wellmam ATTORNEYS Patented Oct. 29, 1946 CLOTHES CLEANING DEVICE KatharineWellman, New York, N. Y., assignor to Bacwell Enterprises Incorporated,New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application March 14, 1945,Serial No. 582,75

3 Claims.

The present invention relates to clothes cleaning devices and, moreparticularly, to such devices which are manually operable, and thepresent application is a continuation-impart of my application SerialNo. 527,216, filed March 20, 1944.

A general object of the present invention is the provision of a readilyand economically manufactured clothes cleaning device of simpleconstruction which may be easily manipulated by hand effectively andefficiently to clean clothes and the like in any suitable manner, suchas by a procedure commonly known as dry cleaning, and which isparticularly adapted to domestic or household use.

A more specific object of. the invention is to provide such a devicewhich is characterized by a clothes-and-cleaning liquid tumblingcontainer substantially spherical in shape and formed of twosubstantially hemispherical sections each having a relatively smoothcurvilinear outer surface the major portion of which is free ofobstructions thereby permitting ready manual rocking of the container ona relatively fiat supporting base surface with either section, or boththereof alternately serving a the bottom portion as may be desired toassure efiicient cleaning of the contents.

Another object of the invention is to provide such a substantiallyspherical container with a pair of substantially diametrically opposedoutwardly projecting hand. grasp means, each hemispherical section ofthe container having one of the grasps secured thereto in a locationwhich assures that the major portion of the outer surface of eachsection will be free from projecting means that might tend to interferewith desired rocking movement.

A further object of the invention is the provision of sucha cleaningcontainer characterized by such diametrically opposed hand graspsarranged as indicated and formed as inlet and outlet fluid spoutscommunicating with the interior of the container and equipped withremovable closure means to permit ready filling and emptying of liquidcontents when desired and to assure efiicient closure for the tumblingoperation of the device.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a dual-purposefunnel which may be removably mounted upon a spout of a container suchas the cleaning device mentioned above in a manner to cause the tubeportion of the funnel to serve as a liquid discharge extension of thespout, andof such form and dimensions as to permit the tube portion ofthe funnel to' be received in the spout to facilitate filling of thecontainer with or pouring in of liquid.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in partappear hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction,combination of elements and arrangement of parts, which will beexemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth and the scopeofthe invention will be indicated in the claims.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention,reference should be had to the following detailed description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is an elevational view of an embodiment of the device of thepresent invention with parts broken away and in section, showing thestructure resting upon a relatively flat supporting base surfaceindicated diagrammatically;

Fig. 2 is a somewhat enlarged top view of one of the substantiallyhemispherical sections of the container shown in Fig. 1, with partsbroken away;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of a hollow hand grasp and adjacent containerstructure, shown in Figs. 1 and 2, in combination with a filling andemptying funnel device removably mounted thereon, also shown in section;and

Fig. 4 is a sectional detail of portions of the two hemisphericalsections of an embodiment of the container of the present inventionshowing a modified form of their gasketed sections.

Referring to the drawing, like numerals identify like parts throughout.The cleaning device adapted'for cleaning clothes and the like, such asby a well known procedure commonly called dry cleaning, comprises asubstantially spherical container l6 adapted when suitably manuallymanipulated to tumble about therein the clothes and cleaning fluidcontents effectively to clean the articles of clothing or the like. Thecontainer [0 consists of 'two substantially similar hemisphericalsections H and I2, each made of any suitable material which issubstantially free from attack by the cleaning liquids to be employed,e. g., a molded plastic, fabricated glass, stainless steel, aluminumalloy, plated metals, etc.

The section I l is provided with a circumferentially extending generallylateral flange l3 terminating in a circumferential lip l4 and supportinga suitable gasketing ring l5. The section l2 has a cooperatingcircumferential flange l5 ter- 3 minating in a circumferential lip lladapted to be telescoped within the circumferential lip l4 and with theflange l6 bearing down upon the gasketing ring l5.

Any suitable means may be employed to clamp the two hemisphericalsections II and E2 togather in the vicinity of a medial plane with thegasketing means providing a liquidetight joint. Such means may comprisea plurality of any suitable form of clamps. Each clamp may consist of apair of ears l8, l8 fixed to one of the sections, such as section II,near its gasket-supporting flange l3, and having pivoted therebetweenone end of a threaded tie bolt l9- The other section, such as l2, mayhave fixed to the outer surface thereof in the vicinity of its flange ISa lug having a laterally extending portion 2| provided with a slot 22receiving the tie bolt l9 when swung into clamping position as shown inFig. 1. The tie bolt threadably carries a nut 23 which engages beyondthe lateral portion 2| of the lug 20 so that when a plurality of suchclamping devices are employed the two hemispherical sections H and I 2of the container I!) may be clamped together in a liquid-tight manner bytightening down the nuts 23-23. It is obvious that other suitableclamping means that will readily occur to those skilled in the art maybe employed in lieu of the pivoted tie bolts just described, such asstructures which have no portions fixed to either of the hemisphericalsections H and I2, and which may thus simplify manufacturing procedures.

Each of the two hemispherical sections H and I2 are provided with a handgrasp 24 fixed to and projecting outwardly from the outer surfacethereof. Each hand grasp 24 comprises a hollow member having a fluidpassage 25 communicating with th interior of the section. The outer endof each hand grasp 24 is externally threaded at 26 and is removablyfitted with an internally threaded cap 2! to close the passage 25 in afluidtight manner, preferably with the aid of a gasket 28 seated withinthe cap. Other suitable passageclosing means which may be removablyfitted to the hollow hand grasp 24 to accomplish a similar purpose willreadily occur to those skilled in the art.

It will be noted from Fig. 1 that by location of the hand grasp 25relatively close to the medial plane of meeting of the hemisphericalsections II and I2, or their respective gasketing flanges, the majorportion of the outer surface of each of the sections is left free ofprotuberances which might interfere with desired and effective manualrocking of the container on a relatively fiat supporting base surface,such as that diagrammatically indicated at 29, about any of a pluralityof angularly related axes. It will further be noted from Fig. 1 that thetwo hand grasps 24, 24, one on each of the two hemispherical sections ll and I2, ar preferably arranged in substantially diametrically opposedpositions for balance and to permit by similar operational motionsrocking of the container with the outer surface of either of the twosections resting upon the supporting base surface.

To assure effective swirling and baflling of the cleaning liquid andarticles placed in the container for efficient cleaning of the latter, aplurality of elongated blades 39-30 and 3l3l are fixedly mounted to theinner wall of each of the hemispherical sections II and I2. For example,each hemispherical section may be provided with four blades 3030arranged in radial planes substantially ninety degrees apart, andeither, or both, of the hemispherical sections may be provided with fouradditional blades 3 |--3I arranged in a plane substantially at rightangles to the planes of the blades 3ll-3il and located substantiallyintermediate thereof in the vicinity of the medial plane of thecontainer I0 or the gasketing structure of the meeting hemisphericalsections H and 12, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

Each of the bafile blades 30-40 and 3I-3l is fixed at spaced points tothe inner wall of the hemispherical section upon which it is mounted,for example, substantially at the ends 32, 32 thereof, and at suchpoints of fixation each blade extends inwardly away from the adjacentportions of the inner wall of the section and substantially normal tothe latter with the intermediate portion of the blade between the pointsof fixation being spaced from the inner wall of the hemisphericalsection to provide for passage of cleaning liquid between the inner wallof the sectionand the rear edge 33 of the blade. The rear edge 33 ofeach blade 30 or 3! is preferably sinuously shaped as shown to enhance adesired churning and agitation of the cleaning liquid.

As suggested in Fig. 4, the flanged edges of the two hemisphericalsections H and 12 may be similarly shaped such as to provide similarlaterally extending circumferential flanges 34, 34 each provided with acircumferential groove 35 in which is seated a suitable gasketing ring35. Such a similarity of structure of the two hernispherical sections Hand I2 may simplify manufacturing procedures since both sections may beformed in a single mold.

For the purpose of facilitating filling and emptying of the container, adual-purpose funnel 3'! is provided as shown in Fig. 3. This funnelpreferably comprises a flared or somewhat conical mouth portion 38 fixedto a tube portion 39 terminating in an end 46 of such external diameteras to be receivable in the passage 25 of one of the hollow hand grasps24 for facilitating pouring of liquid into the container after thehemispherical sections I! and I2 thereof have been clamped together.Further, the funnel 31 is provided at the throat 4| of the tube portionthereof with internal threads 42 adapted to be removably engaged withthe external threads 26 of one of the hand grasps 24 in the manner shownin Fig. 3, so that the tube portion 39 of the funnel may serve as adischarge extension of the .spout provided by the hollow hand grasp.

The embodiment of the present invention disclosed by Way of example inthe drawing is especially adapted to domestic or household use and maybe of a convenient size which permits cleaning in one batch of a fairamount of articles of clothing, fabrics or textiles while beingconvenient for manual manipulation and operation by a housewife. Forexample, the container may be of such size as to have a liquid capacitywhen completely filled of about ten (10) gallons, but it is to beunderstood that in the use of the device it is not intended that thecontainer be filled to maximum capacity with a cleaning liquid.

In operation, one may place into one of the hemispherical sections H orl2 a quantity of articles to be cleaned. Then the other section issecurely clamped thereto in a liquid-tight manner. The hand grasp 24which is fixed to whatever section may be resting upon a suitablerelatively fiat supporting base surface, such as a table, is then fittedwith a closure cap 21, if not previously equipped therewith, and asuitable quantity of cleaning liquid sufiicient in amount to be swirledabout within the container for effectively wetting, washing and flowingthrough and about the articles may be poured into the container throughthe passage of the other hand grasp 24 fixed to the uppermosthemispherical section. This pouring of the cleaning liquid into thecontainer may be facilitated by the employment of the dual-purposefunnel 31 with the tube portion 39 thereof inserted into the passage 25of the hand grasp 24 being used for filling purposes. After the cleaningliquid has been poured into the container Ill another closure cap 21 isfitted upon the hand grasp 24 employed for filling purposes, therebyclosing the container in a liquid-tight manner.

Effective cleaning of the articles within the container is thenaccomplished by grasping the hand grasps 24, 24, and manually rockingthe con tainer on the relatively flat supporting base surface or tablewith a variety of motions to assure rocking about a plurality ofdifferent axes, such as back and forth with the hand grasps alternatelymoving up and down, and also by rotation of the hand grasps to causetransverse rocking, and by motions comprising combinations andvariations thereof. As a result the cleaning fluid will be caused toswirl and vigorously move about in various directions through and pastthe articles therein. The articles of clothing may also be tumbled andmoved about by virtue of the motion of the container, the currents ofcleaning fluid and the functioning of the baflie blades 3U3D and 3|-3l,the latter also effectively assuring eificient swirling of the cleaningliquid and effective movement thereof relative to the articles.

Following manipulation of the container in the manner indicated above,it may then be, and preferably is turned over or reversed so that thehemispherical section which was uppermost in the first operation willnow rest upon the relatively fiat supporting base surface, and thetumbling operation is then repeated. This will assure efiicient cleaningof the contents.

The cleaning liquid, after use, should be removed from the containerbefore the latter is opened up, to avoid spilling, or it may be desiredto replace the cleaning liquid after a period of tumbling but prior tothe completion of the cleaning operation of a single batch of articles.For this purpose the cap 21 on the hand grasp 24 which may be lowermostmay be removed so that that hand grasp may serve as a discharge spout.However, emptying operations may be facilitated by the use of a spoutextension which is efficiently provided by the dual-purpose funnel 31when used in the manner indicated in Fig. 3. For this purpose cap 21upon the uppermost hand grasp 24 may be removed and the funnelthreadably substituted therefor, after which the container may berotated to lower the funnel-fitted hand grasp so that the relativelysmall end 40 of the funnel tube portion 39 will effectively serve as anefficient discharge directing spout.

It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, among otherswhich have been made apparent in the above description, are efficientlyattained and since certain changes may be made in the above constructionand different embodiments of the invention could be made withoutdeparting from the scope thereof, it is intended that all mattercontained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawingshall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended tocover all of the generic and specific features of the invention hereinde-- scribed and all statements of the scope of the invention which, asa matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent is:

1. A manually operable clothes cleaning device comprising asubstantially spherical clothes-andcleaning liquid tumbling containerformed of two substantially hemispherical sections detachably securedtogether in a liquid-tight manner in the vicinity of a medial plane,each of said sections having a relatively smooth curvilinear outersurface to permit ready manual rocking thereof on a relatively fiatsupporting base surface about any of a plurality of angularly relatedaxes, and a pair of substantially diametrically opposed outwardlyprojecting hand grasp with one secured to one of said sections and theother secured to the other section relatively close to the medial planeleaving the major portions of the outer surfaces of said sections freefor rocking contact,

2. A manually operable clothes cleaning device comprising asubstantially spherical clothes-andcleaning liquid tumbling containerformed of two substantially hemispherical sections detachably securedtogether in a liquid-tight manner in the vicinity of a medial plane,each of said sections having a relatively smooth curvilinear outersurface to permit ready manual rocking thereof on a relatively fiatsupporting base surface about any of a plurality of angularly relatedaxes, a pair of substantially diametrically opposed outwardly projectinghand grasps with one secured to one of said sections and the othersecured to the other section relatively close to the medial planeleaving the major portions of the outer surfaces of said sections freefor rocking contact, said hand grasps being hollow to provide inlet andoutlet fluid passages communicating with the interior of said container,and removable means closing the passages.

3. A manually operable clothes cleaning device comprising asubstantially spherical clothes-andcleaning liquid tumbling containerformed of two substantially hemispherical sections detachably securedtogether in a liquid-tight manner in the vicinity of a medial plane,each of said sections having a relatively smooth curvilinear outersurface to permit ready manual rocking thereof on a relatively flatsupporting base surface about any of a plurality of angularly relatedaxes, a pair of substantially diametrically opposed outwardly projectinghand grasps with one secured to one of said sections and the othersecured to the other section relatively close to the medial planeleaving the major portions of the outer surfaces of said sections freefor rocking contact, said hand grasps being hollow to provide inlet andoutlet fluid passages communicating with the interior of said container,and a pair of caps removably fitted on the outer ends of said handgrasps closing the passages.

KATHARINE WELLMAN.

